About Herbalism

Herbalism is a time honored approach to natural healing that dates back thousands of years. Wise men and women have used herbs and plants to help facilitate healing in the body, ease pain and build nutrition for centuries. Herbal wisdom was handed down from family to family, generation to generation by word of mouth and then eventually put to paper. There is a long history of the use of herbs and while much information has been recorded, still much more is yet undiscovered.

It is thought that the first written record of herbal knowledge comes from ancient Greece, the writings of Hippocrates, the so called founder of modern medicine who believed that plants were the all powerful healers and doctors merely the administrars of such medicinal plants. His philosphy of "Harm None" later became known as the Hippocratic Oath which is used by modern medical practitioners today.

Before the advent of pharmeceuticals, there were only plant based medicines to help the body process an illness. People in countrysides knew when and where to harvest their plant allies and would store these plants for use during the year. Apothecaries in cities across the world held tinctures, teas, salves and poultices for every conceivable ailment. It was not until the sixteenth century that an alchemist, botonist and physician named Paraclesus discovered how to extract the vital alkeloids from plants to make a single component based compound, from which the drug industry as we know it today stemmed from.

You might wonder how herbalism has a place if the drugs we use today are mostly plant based and do the job to irradicate the illness that much more quickly than the plant might.

Because a single constituant distilled from a plant is a volatile substance, and because many of the modern pharmeceutical drugs have been synthesized, meaning artificially produced based on the chemical components discovered by the original extraction; the side effects of these drugs are not always known and side effects which are documented are the result of the product being combined with other artificial materials in order to make a chemical reaction.

Because herbs have so long been used, and because the vital alkaloids, proteins, vitamins and minerals remain in tact, they work together in a very powerful, yet gentle way to facilitate healing without side effects; people in modern times can take advantage of the well known and documented health benefits of thousands of herbs available on the market today.

It is not to say that heroic medicine does not have it's place. As any herbalist or holistic practitioner will tell you, it is about utilizing both gifts and knowing when to call your physician if there is a serious problem. However, herbalism provides a way for us to create vitality and inner fortitude by strengthening our immune system, balancing our energies, reducing inflammation (a main source of many diseases), and by allowing us to focus on living rather than irradicating disease. Herbs are nutritious, they combine wonderfully with each other and with whole foods and they make great companions for lasting health and wellbeing.

In my experience as an herbalist, I have seen that while drugs attack an illness resulting in only peripheral healing, herbs support a body's recovery through an illness to sustain long term health. It is thought in holistic health that illness is a necessary part of life and that the body has the miraculous power to heal itself with the support of proper diet, rest and nourishment from plants and homeopathic treatments.

I believe when you begin to truly experience the wonderful power of plants as medicine, our focus changes on how we handle illness and disease. From the view that our bodies are frail hosts for bacteria and germs, to the view that our bodies are sanctuary for wellness that invites the occassional illness only to work with the system to increase the power of healing that the body is capable of.

Integrating this mentality is tough in our world of medical intervention, to really feel empowered by the knowledge of ourselves as healers takes time, but I think that we can positively effect change by bringing herbal knowledge once again to the forefront of our healthcare practices. I think every business that markets healing products should have an herbalist on staff.

In this blog, I hope to reach people that have decided that they want to begin advocating for themselves and their families and no longer be passive onlookers to their health and wellbeing. If you are reading this blog and you feel that you are ready to take back your power, ready to learn how to heal yourself, ready to participate in your own wellness, you have come to the right place.

Stay tuned for the next topic of discussion: Why Informed Consent is Important.